Heacock's American head pain

Pit fires and bloody injuries are all in a day's work for American Head Charge frontman Cameron Heacock.

The singer says he enjoys intimate gigs as much as big festival shows like Download – but admits there's something about the “unexpected violence of a huge crowd” that he just loves.

He tells TeamRock Radio: “You never know what you're going to get. We've played festivals, like at Ozzfest, where people have started fires in the pit. I've been bleeding from my head and people have been pointing at their heads, bleeding out in the audience. It's madness.”

The band are preparing to start work on their fourth album after a successful crowdfunding campaign – but Heacock admits they were nervous when the Indiegogo scheme appeared to stall.

He says: “It was kind of slow go at the beginning of it – but it really took off right there at the end. In the last two weeks we took half of what we wanted, and we reached our goal.”

American Head Charge play Download tomorrow (Saturday) then London's Underworld on Tuesday, alongside Kill Devil HIll.